Satara (Maharashtra), May 9 (IANS) Claiming that the country wants a "change", Nationalist Congress Party-SP President Sharad Pawar on Thursday predicted that the INDIA-Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance candidates will bag between 30-35 seats of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra.

Addressing media persons here, Pawar said that in the 2019 LS elections, the Opposition parties had got just 6 seats, but this time the figures would be at least five to six times higher, touching 30-35.

"The first three phases of polling in the country seem to have unnerved Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That’s why after the second phase, he changed his political strategy by directly naming the Muslim community. He apparently feels that now something can be done by invoking such religious issues…," he claimed.

In his assessment, the octogenarian leader pointed out that as the elections progress, PM Modi’s supporters are apprehensive that his position (as PM) is under threat.

He reiterated that the alliance of NCP-SP, the Congress, and the Shiv Sena-UBT is expected to get a good response as the people of the state support their policies and are desirous of a "change" in power in the country.